Today:
Late this evening, after 11 o’clock, the Last Quarter Moon and the bright star Regulus, the “heart” of the constellation Leo, the Lion, make their way into the heavens. Through the wee hours of tomorrow morning, this “half Moon” tracks higher into the southeastern sky. The “quarter” Moon refers to its progression three quarters of the way through its cycle, and along its orbit around the Earth.
Saturday:
The eastern skies have gone to the dogs! Procyon, the star marking the Little Dog, is one of Orion’s hunting dogs, and rises at 9:50 PM. But the Great Dog comes into view a bit more than a half-hour later, as the star Sirius – the “Dog star” and the brightest star in the night skies – rises at 10:20 PM EST.
Sunday:
Due east this evening at 6:50 PM will be a faint cluster of stars called the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. To see them easier, look slightly to their side (either one), and their faint light hits a more sensitive part of your eye. In Japan they are known as “Subaru” – yes, the same as the car – which means “to gather together”.